"In the majority of circumstances, where you have a fake it's usually the photographic process. If you have a magnifying glass and a torch you can pick that straight away, even through glass," he said.

It was so shoddy. It's a page torn out from a book with a pencil added

Chris Hodges, art gallery owner

"Unfortunately every industry has its predators. Fakes and forgeries are the pariahs of the art world."

When art gallery owner Chris Hodges saw the fake he was shocked.

"It was so shoddy. It's a page torn out from a book with a pencil added. It's not a lithograph in the real sense or a woodcut," he said.

Mr Hodges says it gives the art world a bad name.

"It is damaging because the general public feels there's a scam going on everywhere and there's not," he said.

"You need to be discerning in what you're buying and it's troubling because some of the best artists in the country are having their reputations tarnished where the bad, cheap, and poor quality material is being compared against their best."